MARGARINE MENACE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1812, 26 July 1913, Page 10

MARGARINE MENACE.

EFFECT ON SECONDARY BUTTER. Messrs! J. B. MacEwan and Co., Ltd., have received the following from their London Representatives:— "Margarine has certainly made serious inroads into the trade for secondary butter ; however, we have had bad years before on various grades and now that there k an opportunity for Tctailers to sell a good sweet sound butter at Is .per lb. retail, the demand is improving; and it. we can only keep up the supyly of this butter so that a trade could bemaiptained at Is. per lb. retail, we shall then give margarine manufacturers a. better run for their money, but, as long as the price of butter varies from 116s. to 1305., the fact is easily appreciated that tho very targe number of low-wage earners in thiis oountry must buy for price, and they cannot afford to pay Is. 2d. and Is. A&. .per lb., for butter when there is good margarine to be bought at Gd. "We think all fully realise the fact that margarine at Gd. per lb. is an article.;that is being pushed as against butter. ' Two pounds are sold for Is., ' and whilst the price i 9 quoted at- Is. per lb. one,pound is given iu as 'over-weight , or as a sort of 'bonus/ and the thrifty or poor housekeeper who purchases this article has now got into the habit of asking for 'one pound and overweight'; she thus avoids mentioning tho name of margarine. "We can only reiterate our idea that at some time or other in. its existence, margarine is a fraud; because, if it is sold legitimately by manufacturers or by the shopkeepers it is undoubtedly represented as butter when on "the table. We are striving to get the. colouring prohibited so as to preclude its being such, a patent imitation to the genuine article, but when the fact is appreciated that some 2500 to 3000 tons per week are sold in this country, it is easily seen th'ero are large vested interests, and. a good many arguments from the labouring classes that have to be overcome. That the article; is a good, sound food nobody can deny."

COWS IN MILK. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ltd., state that at Mrs. S. B. Lancaster's sale at Fitzherbert on Tuesday and Wednesday there will be offered, in addition to the springers, about 60 very choice cows just calved. All these cows are guaranteed sound, and will be offered entirely without reserve, Drags will meet all trains, and the cows in milk will be offered on the first day (Tuesday), the sale starting- at 12 noon sharp. In a question addressed to tho Minister for Agriculture in the House of Representatives, Mr. Wilkinson, member for Egmont, asks that the Agricultural Department be instructed to cause a thorough test to be made regarding the suitability of pinus radiata', commonly known as pinus insignus, for butter T bose3 and cheese-cases. Kβ remarks that this seems to be a very suitable timber for above purposes, and especially so when its quick-growing qualities aTe taken into account.' All facilities can bo obtained to complete the experiment, and the Department would only need to guarantee the small extra expense incurred, together with repayment of any- lo9s that might accrue.

At a r.ecent meeting of dairymen, one of the speakers administered a gentle rebuke to those farmers who convey false impressions to the public with respect to the earning power of their cows and the yield of various crops jjrown under their care. He said it was time these stories were contradicted, as they were being taken up by labour unions, and being made to suit their own ends. It was contended that if anyone would take the timo and go carefully into' the facts and figures they would find that the dairymen's profits wero not so large as appeared to bo the oase.